Drinking alcohol can cut multiple sclerosis risk in half for men and by 40 percent for women, according to research conducted by the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The results are the first of their kind.

“You can drink alcohol without being afraid that the risk of MS will increase,” Anna Hedstrom, MD, a researcher at the institute and co-author of the study, said in an email. “Most people do not think about [their MS] risk, but they might if the disease runs in the family.”

Two previous studies in the 1990s and the 2000s respectively looked at the link between alcohol and multiple sclerosis (MS) but were inconclusive.

Bottom’s Up: Drinking Suppresses the Immune System

The Swedish scientists used questionnaires to study the drinking habits of 745 MS patients and matched them with 1,761 people without MS, controlling for age, gender and residential area at the time of diagnosis. The Swedes discovered that while alcohol type doesn’t matter – results were the same whether the person drank wine or spirits – the amount imbibed does.

Women who drank more than 4 ounces of alcoholic beverages per week – the rough equivalent to 2.5 shots or a small glass of wine – were at the most reduced risk for multiple sclerosis. Men who drank more than 6 ounces of alcoholic beverage weekly – about four shots or a large glass of wine – also saw the benefits.

Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease that affects the central nervous system and the brain. When you have MS, your body’s immune system goes haywire and attacks your nerves, often causing debilitating pain, numbness, fatigue and memory loss. Scientists can’t say for sure why drinking is helpful, but research shows that alcohol consumption can suppress certain immune responses, and this might keep MS at bay.

Moderate alcohol consumption also reduces the risk of developing other immune-oriented diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, hypothyroidism, and lupus.

"It's conceivable that alcohol could reduce inflammation. As a result from the reduced immune response then there's less (immune system) attack on the (nerve) tissue, and that would translate into an outcome, but it's contingent on many factors," said Peter Joseph Jongen, MD, PhD, a neurologist at the MS4 Research Institute in the Netherlands.

Implications for People Already Diagnosed With MS

The questionnaires covered a five-year period, where people with MS and their healthy counterparts, all between the ages of 16 and 70, outlined specific drinking habits. The study was adjusted for gender, residential area, ancestry, smoking, body mass index at age 20 and, most importantly, age. In other words, the researchers were not comparing freshman frat boys with older professionals.

There's a slight possibility the retrospective aspects of the study could’ve skewed the conclusions. Asking people to remember their alcohol consumption years later may slightly alter results, Dr. Hedstrom said.

“There is always a risk that you forget about your previous drinking habits,” she added.

For now, the results have no bearing on people who already have MS. Instead, they may be helpful for those who are at greater risk for the disease, like the children of people with MS. The Swedish research group plans to further investigate the role alcohol plays in the development of MS.

"The researchers should do comparative studies with (MS) patients who drink and don't drink and relapse rates. I think that study would be interesting to do," Jongen said. "They can look for association between consumption of alcohol and disease barometers."

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